"Not a chance." I slipped my fingers between Nathen's. The man rubbed his eyes after the flash, then glanced over at us. Before two seconds could pass, he fell to the ground, unconscious. I let out a small chuckle. "That was almost my reaction the first time! Now," I directed my gaze to my Link. "Mind telling me what took you so long?" I joked.
"Finding a Minniemon in an Upperlander village is like finding a needle in a haystack!" He smiled.
I suddenly remembered the others, so I gestured to the exit. As soon as we'd gotten to another room, I explained my end of the story.
Nathen nodded, obviously unsurprised. "When you didn't meet me back by the stream, I started watching the Minniemon village. For two days I looked for any sign of you, but seeing as there was no movement at all, I gave up. This house,"—he gestured around the room—"definitely caught my attention. I figured that no farmer could get this rich without the help of Minniemons. So I broke in a few days ago and looked about. Since I couldn't find anything, I hung around the Upperlander village, trying to get some hint of what might have happened by word of mouth. Then I heard a rumor that man,"—he gestured to the other room—"does illegally capture you guys. This motivated me to come look again."
"That was today," I interrupted, a little proud I was following his story so well.
He nodded, then continued. "The strangest thing is that I wouldn't have found you if I didn't get the feeling you were in there. I swear, I heard your voice in my head," he explained. My eyes widened, and I quickly told him to turn around. With our backs to each other, I "thought" a few words.
Can you hear this?
Nathen shot around. "Telepathy?! That's not a thing!"
"An Upperlander shrinking isn't a thing," I stated jokingly. Before he could respond, a moan came from the other room. He was waking up. "Here's the plan." I whispered a few jumbled sentences, and we hurriedly took action. Nathen grabbed a box that was located on the other side of the room we were in, then we tiptoed over to the back room. The kidnapper still laid unconscious on the ground.
I closed my eyes, letting out a breath, then the white light flashed. Nathen picked me up . . . too gently. I glared at him, pulling his index finger over my body. If this was going to work, it needed to look real. He slowly moved the rest of his fingers over me, still too gently, though.
Finally, he held me loosely in his fist, placed the box underneath the door to the log, then set me in the log and left the room. I rolled my eyes. So much for throwing me.
"Quickly!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "He left the door open!" Immediately, the crowds of Minniemons rushed to the door. I slammed myself against the wall so as not to get caught in the chaos. They were going far too fast to realize the drop into the box, and by the time they did realize it, it was too late. They all tumbled down, screaming in shock. It was like a chain reaction. When the people at the door noticed the trap, they'd still get pushed down by the people behind them, anyway.
Jenna and Alex must have put two and two together because they went to me instead of the door. Jenna raised an eyebrow as she stared down at all of them. "Sly." She clapped her hands a couple of times. "I suppose your Link found you?"
I smiled and nodded. Nathen placed the lid on top of the box and moved it out of the way. I drew in a breath, backed up a few steps, then ran to the door, jumping with all my might. Nathen caught me, and I immediately changed form.
Ignoring the pain, I gestured for us to leave the room. Oddly enough, I could still hear the confused murmurs from the Minniemons in the box. I guessed that when you're a Minniemon, no matter what form you take, you'll always be able to hear your own kind.
Jenna and Alex jumped out of the log and changed form as we tip-toed out of the room.
"Trespassers!" The man shot up from his place on the floor and eyed the box Nathen held. "Give me back those pests!" This made me red with fury, and without hesitation, I grabbed the nearest thing I could find and hit right in the Upperlander's face. Again, he hit the floor, unconscious.
Nathen's eyes widened, but he kept going until we reached the Minniemon village. I stared at the walking stick in my hand, and I couldn't help but grin at the fact that I whacked an Upperlander. Scratch that off the bucket list.
We arrived at the end of the Minniemon village, and Nathen carefully rolled the box onto its side, removing the lid from its place. The four of us quickly hid behind some trees as they flooded out of the box.
The wind whipped around while the clouds swirled overhead. They seemed to hold a deep purple color here and there, mixed in with the black and gray. The sun was nowhere to be found in their chaos, causing it to be so dark that we had to feel our way around. Literally.
"Nailed it!" I yelled over the storm, high-fiving my Link.
Nathen frowned. "Yes, but what will keep him"—he gestured to the mansion—"from capturing them again?"
Jenna and Alex didn't waste a second. "We will," their voices rung in sync.
"You know," Jenna thought aloud, "the outdoors seems almost foreign."
Alex smiled. "Let's go change that." He grabbed her hand and led her back toward his town. "And remember," he called back to us, "the next village up!"
I sighed, looking over at Nathen. "We're going, right?"
"This is the last one. If we don't find any help there, then we're going back home. Maybe there's some other way we can save your tribe."
Chapter 12
Third Time’s the Charm
IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT no bird could fly in this kind of storm. We'd have to go on foot, but could we? It was hard enough having to grab onto tree branches just to keep from getting swept over by the wind.
Almost instantly, the clouds started clearing from the sky and the wind slowed.
"Wow,” I muttered in shock. Could mother nature read my mind? I stuck my fingers in my mouth and whistled for the blue jay. Sure enough, the bird popped out of nowhere and landed on the nearest tree branch.
Nathen moaned.
The clouds never left the sky. They still covered it, blocking out the sun. But they did thin drastically, allowing us an easy flight. The wind didn't leave either, but it slowed enough for us to hear each other without having to shout. . . . Until we reached the next village. Then the storm picked up harder than before.
It only took us a few hours to reach the next set of villages. This time we decided not to split up, considering what that cost us last time.
We started in the Upperlander village. Actually, it was more like a marketplace. People crowded the streets, buying and selling all kinds of goods.
Items flew around everywhere. Sellers were hardly able to keep their tents up. Buyers couldn’t exchange money without some of it blowing off with the wind.
How and why did these people stay out here with this kind of weather?
Heck, I was wondering how we stayed out here! Nathen and I had to lean on walls and grab onto each other just to stay up. The worst part was that the wind was unpredictable. One second it would blow south, then it would blow north.
Finally, we turned into an alleyway to catch our breath. Three cabins helped to shelter us from the wind.